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Patrick Murphy: Vanity is driving municipalization push

Posted:
10/28/2013 03:41:49 PM MDT

Updated:
10/28/2013 03:44:08 PM MDT

Is it vanity and not sanity that is now driving municipalization past all the so-called off-ramps? I have prepared an online Powerpoint presentation that shows both what Xcel has already accomplished versus what Boulder claims they can accomplish, as well as Xcel's 20-year plan versus Boulder's.

Boulder is only about 3.4 percent of the entire Colorado Xcel power usage. Even with the best results, Boulder will only have a 1 to 2 percent impact on the state total. That is what I would call a statistically insignificant shallow victory, especially if carbon reduction is the goal. Xcel already has 19.5 percent renewables in their energy source mix. That is already approximately more that the equivalent of 10 Boulder municipalizations!

Did you know that Boulder still has plans to use coal for most of the next 20 years? Did you know that Xcel has a steady reduction of coal use over the same period? Did you know that Boulder will ultimately have a high reliance on wind (bird and bat mortality) and natural gas (fracking). Did you know that Boulder and Xcel both plan to have about the same low (5 to 3 percent) use of solar?

We need to use our power to motivate Xcel, Public Utilities Commission and our state representatives, not create our own bureaucracy, at great expense, that will result in exactly the same problems in the long run. The startup costs alone are estimated to be $35.8 million, with hundred(s) of millions more to come. For what, a 2 percent change?

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When you critically think that Xcel is guilty of misrepresentation, what is stopping you from using that same critical assessment of Boulder's plan? Is it vanity and not sanity? See data and sources at http://tinyurl.com/munivanity2.

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